Scene Five

The Elsin Rani, Khawaja Majumder’s Light Freighter, has been disabled by a pair of Makara heavy fighters on long range patrol above an unnamed world in the Yami Belt. Our heroes must destroy, disable, or drive off those ships before the Makara can destroy the freighter and render for Khawaja Majumder out of reach – permanently.

The Makara pilots, seasoned veterans both, put up quite a fight, one that seems to overmatch the Fast Courier class ship our Bounty Hunters have at their disposal. In the end, one of the fighters is driven off, and the other is destroyed. Unfortunately, the latter victory required the sacrifice of the Risky Business, and our heroes find themselves faced with commandeering the disabled freighter or Khawaja Majumder or walking home.

Scene 3

The heroes have located fugitive target Khawaja Majumder’s contact and fence Faysal Accha at a resort casino complex on the Beltworld of Mahanadi. This extensive complex is located belowground for the most part, due to the intemperate climate of the outpost above. The independent colony has fairly permissive standards regarding weapons and armor, but the wealthy casino has inversely strict requirements for entry, and the technik and personnel to back the requirements up.

A complicated plan to sneak some gear into the establishment while Faysal is located is executed with the usual flair: it starts well, and ends up progressively destabilizing as time goes on. Business class accommodations are secured in the levels beneath the casino, and the intrigue continues to play out in the half a dozen levels separating the hunters’ room and the high roller suites below. Eventually, one too many technical failures for bypassing security summon a handful of well armed security personnel, and the heroes barely having time to scan the contents of Faysal’s business documents (which include the name of the freighter Ar. Majumder chartered, and a timetable of unclaimed planetoids to visit).

Scene 4

The Risky Business makes an expeditious high speed departure from Mahanadi, while being pursued by a pair of light fighters (either security forces associated with the casino, or mercenaries in the employ of Faysal Accha – it’s never precisely determined). Thanks to some impressive gunnery work by Shiv, the fighters are disabled in low orbit of Mahandi, allowing the ship to escape.

Onward to a series of unnamed worlds in the Yami Belt that the fugitive has survey data for.

A Black Band Warrant has been issued for Khawaja Majumder, a Janya of the Artisan Caste.  He is wanted on the charges of Corporate Espionage, Larceny, and Grand Theft, in an incident on the Yami Province (and Quadrant Capital), Yamuna. Known associates include Kajol Purakayastha, Naisha Chakma, and Prabir Basak, all of the Artisan caste. Expected complications are the Economic nature of the crime (in all likelihood the fugitive has resources to spare), and lots of (charted and uncharted) places to hide in the Belt.

A flash-forward shot for the episode shows all three bounty hunters falling in the darkness of space, apparently extra-vehicular.

Scene One:

The Yamuna Survey Office, and an interaction with a known associate of the fugitive, Kajol Purakayastha. It’s revealed that espionage and theft were of a survey map of remote (and unclaimed) Yami worlds rich in precious metals, as well as samples of the metals in question. Kajol seems ill-disposed towards the fugitive, and through soft-interrogation reveals a possible vulnerability of the target: an expensive Soma habit.

Underworld contacts reveal an extensive network of crime and criminals based on the Beltworld of Wakal, and our heroes are off.

Scene Two: A Soma Den in Wakal

Prabir Basak, another of known associate of the fugitive, is in a highly suggestible state. After intimidating some local low-lives with designs on Prabir’s wallet, the grateful Artisan offers an unexpected discovery: the name and location of the fence that Khawaja Majumder sold the precious metals from the Survey office to (Prabir facilitated the meeting, and has just finished drinking, snorting, and injecting her finder’s fee).

From here, it’s off to the independent colony of Mahanadi, a refinery outpost known for “anything goes” Casinos.

Scene Six

Roslin Syed has been remanded into Inquisition custody on Aruna, and the individual hunters are debriefed separately.  Shiv’s testimony in particular is quite detailed, as zhe was “whammied” on more than one occasion with the shakti disrupting Sādhanā of the spiritualist.

The illicit Red Warrant on Roslin Syed is closed successfully.

Scene Four

This week, on Rockets and Mayhem, our heroes snuck into the space-circus after hours to abduct a heretic spiritualist at the request of the Inquisition (1). Things were touch and go taking a shortcut through the botanical freakshow (2), but thankfully the Raksasa carnies socializing in the laborer encampment were just drunk enough not to notice the bounty hunters technically didn’t have a warrant for their principal.

Scene Five

Also thankfully, the aforementioned principal Roslin Syed had very little prep time to ready zher magics before the door got busted in. Zhe had company in the form of a burly Kravyad Crocotta tamer who put up quite a fight. By the time Roslin was disabled and unconconscious, zher companion Tanoarn Mezec had fled into the darkness, no doubt to bedevil our heroes in the future.

1) “Everybody Owes Somebody”

2) see also: The Trouble with Triffids

Scene Two:
The heroes spend the day at the fairgrounds of Gomati, touring the travelling circus. Some reconnaissance is accomplished, some prizes are won in games of skill, but there is no sign of the target of the assignment, Roslin Syed.

Scene Three:
Having won entrance to the “Championship Showdown” earlier in the day, Rajan, Shiv, and Q. Proud Mary all compete in respective bouts of skill with the local and circus champions, in the hopes of winning “golden tickets” that allow repeated reentry into the circus without paying a fare – the tickets are high-tech keys to the gates. The intent is to disassemble one of the tickets, so that another may be altered to grant after hours access to the circus (and the exhibits).
Unfortunately, Rajan is unable to beat the circus Elementalist Shaily Patoyari in a bout of raw Power, and Shiv is unable to triumph in a game of water blasters when the circus opponent puts the whammy on him with Spritualism magic. The good news is, Roslin Syed has been identified.

Campaign Aspects: “Everybody owes somebody”, “You’re only as good as your last job”

Background

The Janya Church has a separate but co-equal ecclesiastical criminal justice system.

For the most part the Church defers to temporal matters by using the civilian justice system for their needs (hence, Red Warrants), but in cases involving the Nobility or Clerics castes, or the practice of Sadhana, they have the authority to charge Janya under their own auspices.

Much as a military court, under separate-sovereigns doctrine, defendants do not have protection from being charged for the same action in multiple courts, just protection from being charged for the same criminal offense.

Scene One:

Pursuant to a high ranking member of the Church (a Red-Badge Agent of the Inqusition) saving Q. Proud Mary and the entire team from burglary and attempted manslaughter charges on their last assignment, the team finds themselves back on the Kaikasi moon of Aruna, in the Sanctuary of the Thearch. There, they are meeting with their contact in the Church, Shoan Sen. It seems there is a Casteless Janya outside the reach of clerical law in the Yami belt, and Shoan is calling in her marker quite expediently.

The team accepts an unsanctioned retrieval assignment for Roslin Syed, who stands accused by the Inquisition of Sorcery (Magic outside of the faith) and Maleficium (Injury, or Significant Injury, resulting from Magic). The highest level offense for unsanctioned Siddha, Necromancy involves the use of Spiritualism and Vivacism in the service of the Adversary, but there isn’t any evidence of that offense, currently.

Roslin is known to be traveling with the travelling circus, currently in Quadrant I of the Yami Belt. The circus travels to independent and outlaw settlements where the Church lacks legal authority (or worse), hence the need for mercenaries. The circus is scheduled to be on Gomati for the next two weeks (the third month of 1989). Once taken into custody, Roslin is to be returned to Aruna, the center of the Church power.

As this assignment pays nothing, the usual profit sharing arrangement with Captain Lohani isn’t applicable. That means fuel and travel expenses come out of the team’s pockets (although Rajan will likely take the brunt of it, as she usually does).

Scene 5

A civilian vessel flashing Belt transponder codes moves to intercept the Lucky Business carrying the crew and their prisoner as they decelerate out of Empyrean Sail propulsion and move into orbit around Raka. That ship doesn’t respond to attempts to communicate, but does open fire once the two vessels are close enough to do so.

Shiv returns fire, lightly damaging the hostile ship and allowing the Lucky Business to safely escape and land at a Navy cosmodrome. Rubel Mian is taken into custody, and the warrant is paid in full.

The familiar face of Shoan Sen (from scene 3) in the unfamiliar garb of the Cleric caste approaches the crew as they make their way back to the cosmodrome…

Scene Three

Q Proud Mary is visited in the Primitive Medicine ward of the local hospital. All charges against him are dropped, and the investigation into the violence in the Solar Commerce Union Hall is closed, but Everybody Owes Somebody.

Scene Four

Q Proud Mary catches up with Shiv and Rajan as they investigate Union controlled properties in the Srama Gaol Municipal Complex. In one of them, they spot some Union brutes keeping a lookout of a condemned weapons facility. They also recognize Joya Hazari, one of the fugitive Rubel Mian’s recently revealed associates (and collaborator in the work stoppages).

The bounty hunters attempt to infiltrate the building with stealth, hoping to minimize the opposition. In this they are successful, and get the drop on the fugitive and two well armed bodyguards. Once the bodyguards are taken out quickly and quietly, Rubel surrenders without too much fuss, and the Paladin operatives exit without the notice of the brutes outside.

The Hunt for Rebel Rubel.

Principal is Rubel  Mian, Janya of the Artisan Caste, associated with a Blue (Navy) warrant for the capital offense of Sedition in times of war. Last confirmed location was the Srama Gaol Municipal Complex on Aruna (Kaikasi b). Remand is the Naval Reservation on Raka.

Known associates include Ashik Kalinga (Janya Nobility caste, executive director of the shipyard at the Municipal Complex), Oporajita Debroy (Janya Artisan and fellow employee at the shipyard), and Bhaskor Pathan (Cleric caste long time friend of the fugitive).

Scene One takes place in the Srama Gaol shipyards, and include a social interaction and investigation of Ashik Kalinga. It seems as though the fugitive had been staging work stoppages and sabotage in protest to the conditions of martial law in the complex.

Scene Two takes place at the Solar Commerce Union Trade Hall in the Free Trade Zone (no customs) of the Srama Gaol Cosmodrome. Rajan and Shiv made best use of a distraction provided by Q Proud Mary to surreptitiously obtain property and utility information for residential and commercial properties used by the Union from the foreman’s office. This, combined with the unofficial rumblings of an upcoming demonstration and rally, give the hunters an edge on arriving at the rally before the location is generally announced.

Unfortunately, there are two bits of complication. The first, Rajan’s belief that “magic solves everything” has resulted in a curious Union foreman being torn nearly asunder by a terrifically overpowered thunderbolt spell. The second is Q Proud Mary’s attempt at a distraction early in the scene ends in the Raksasa in law enforcement custody on the way to a local hospital to tend to the savage beating he took at the hands of Union members (in the company of nearly two dozen Artisan and Casteless union members who are in worse physical shape than he is).